Megan Wheeler
Encyclopedia
Det. Megan Ann Wheeler is a fictional character
portrayed by Julianne Nicholson
on the NBC
-USA Network
series Law & Order: Criminal Intent
. Nicholson previously portrayed Christina Finn on the now defunct Law & Order
spin-off, Conviction, as well as a one-time character in an episode of the original Law & Order
, entitled "All My Children".
(Annabella Sciorra
) as Mike Logan
's partner. She transfers in with the new captain, her mentor Danny Ross. She had worked undercover for three years—including assignments on vice, drugs, and white-collar crime
—and handled a money laundering
probe with Ross. During an investigation, Wheeler recalls how her mother had to become a waitress to support both of them when Wheeler's father abandoned them. At first, Logan questions whether someone as young as Wheeler would be capable of handling major homicide cases, and he remarks that she is his first partner to have freckles. However, the age difference proves useful when Wheeler is familiar with the shorthand used by adolescents in text messaging
one another. However, she is shown in the same episode to be unable to hear the ultrasonic
ring tone
used by a teenage suspect to sneak a cell phone into school, a frequency that it was claimed few people over age 30 can detect.
In "Players
", it is revealed that Wheeler's father, a lawyer connected to the Mafia
, disappeared 20 years before and is either in hiding or dead—killed by the mob. Her father had allegedly been getting a cut of mob profits, which helped pay Wheeler's private school tuition; but the arrangement ended after a change of mob bosses. She also has an Uncle Pete, who works in a restaurant. The mass grave at the end of this episode is similar to the one where the NYPD found many of the victims that John Gotti
ordered murdered as head of the Gambino crime family
.
At the end of Season 6, ("Renewal
"), Wheeler tells Logan that she is going to Europe
to teach a course on American police procedure. In actuality, the actress playing her was taking maternity leave. For Season 7, she is replaced by Det. Nola Falacci
(Alicia Witt
). Wheeler returns to the Major Case Squad in "Contract
", and it is revealed that she has become engaged. In "Last Rites
", Wheeler's fiancé Colin John Ledger (portrayed by Nicholson's husband, Jonathan Cake) is arrested by the FBI for fraud
, money laundering
, and racketeering.
After Logan leaves the squad in "Last Rites", Wheeler is assigned a new partner, Zack Nichols (Jeff Goldblum
). In the Season 8 episode "Rock Star
", Ross mentions that Wheeler seems to have had issues with her previous partner and her former fiancé and isn't ready to trust Nichols. In "In Treatment
", she says that Colin is facing 12 years in Federal prison and that she is pregnant with his child, coinciding nicely with Nicholson's second pregnancy. Nevertheless, she says her life is perfect. She also says in this episode that she won't let him know about his child.
In "The Glory That Was...
", Internal Affairs
accuses her of being Colin's accomplice. Later, she says that the Bureau wants to call her as a witness at Colin's trial, which she fears will affect her job. Ross reassures her that the situation isn't her fault and that no one really thinks that she's corrupt.
Wheeler made her last full episode appearance of Season 8 in "Passion
", to coincide with Wheeler's/Nicholson's pregnancy. Alexandra Eames
(Kathryn Erbe
) took her place in the last two episodes of the season. She can briefly be seen in "Major Case
", discussing a case in Ross' office, when her water breaks
and Eames takes her to the hospital.
After being accompanied by Eames at the hospital, it is revealed that she has a sister who stays with her while she gives birth. She names the baby "Margo Jane Wheeler".
Wheeler is replaced by Serena Stevens (Saffron Burrows
) in "Loyalty
".
In the season 6 episode "Blasters", she names various automatic weapons fired by mobsters eg Skorpion, showing her knowledge of firearms.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
portrayed by Julianne Nicholson
Julianne Nicholson
Julianne Nicholson is an American actress. She is known for having played Det. Megan Wheeler on Law & Order: Criminal Intent.-Early life:...
on the NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
-USA Network
USA Network
USA Network is an American cable television channel launched in 1971. Once a minor player in basic cable, the network has steadily gained popularity because of breakout hits like Monk, Psych, Burn Notice, Royal Pains, Covert Affairs, White Collar, Monday Night RAW, Suits, and reruns of the various...
series Law & Order: Criminal Intent
Law & Order: Criminal Intent
Law & Order: Criminal Intent is an American police procedural television drama series set in New York City, where it was also primarily produced. Created and produced by Dick Wolf and René Balcer, the series premiered on September 30, 2001, as the second spin-off of Wolf's successful crime drama...
. Nicholson previously portrayed Christina Finn on the now defunct Law & Order
Law & Order franchise
The Law & Order franchise is a number of related American television series created by Dick Wolf and originally broadcast on NBC, all of which deal with some aspect of the criminal justice system...
spin-off, Conviction, as well as a one-time character in an episode of the original Law & Order
Law & Order
Law & Order is an American police procedural and legal drama television series, created by Dick Wolf and part of the Law & Order franchise. It aired on NBC, and in syndication on various cable networks. Law & Order premiered on September 13, 1990, and completed its 20th and final season on May 24,...
, entitled "All My Children".
Profile
Wheeler becomes a detective in the Major Case Squad when she replaced Carolyn BarekCarolyn Barek
Det. Carolyn Barek is a fictional character on the NBC-USA Network series, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, played by Annabella Sciorra.Barek is partnered with Det. Mike Logan , on the Major Case Squad of the New York City Police Department . Her badge number is 6141.A criminal profiler from...
(Annabella Sciorra
Annabella Sciorra
Annabella Sciorra is an American film, television, and stage actress. Sciorra received an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Female Lead for the 1989 film True Love, and came to widespread attention in her co-lead role in Spike Lee's 1991 film Jungle Fever...
) as Mike Logan
Mike Logan (Law & Order)
Michael "Mike" Logan is a fictional character in the police procedural and legal drama television series Law & Order franchise, played by Chris Noth.-History in the franchise:...
's partner. She transfers in with the new captain, her mentor Danny Ross. She had worked undercover for three years—including assignments on vice, drugs, and white-collar crime
White-collar crime
Within the field of criminology, white-collar crime has been defined by Edwin Sutherland as "a crime committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of his occupation" . Sutherland was a proponent of Symbolic Interactionism, and believed that criminal behavior was...
—and handled a money laundering
Money laundering
Money laundering is the process of disguising illegal sources of money so that it looks like it came from legal sources. The methods by which money may be laundered are varied and can range in sophistication. Many regulatory and governmental authorities quote estimates each year for the amount...
probe with Ross. During an investigation, Wheeler recalls how her mother had to become a waitress to support both of them when Wheeler's father abandoned them. At first, Logan questions whether someone as young as Wheeler would be capable of handling major homicide cases, and he remarks that she is his first partner to have freckles. However, the age difference proves useful when Wheeler is familiar with the shorthand used by adolescents in text messaging
Text messaging
Text messaging, or texting, refers to the exchange of brief written text messages between fixed-line phone or mobile phone and fixed or portable devices over a network...
one another. However, she is shown in the same episode to be unable to hear the ultrasonic
Ultrasound
Ultrasound is cyclic sound pressure with a frequency greater than the upper limit of human hearing. Ultrasound is thus not separated from "normal" sound based on differences in physical properties, only the fact that humans cannot hear it. Although this limit varies from person to person, it is...
ring tone
Ring tone
A ringtone or ring tone is the sound made by a telephone to indicate an incoming call or text message. Not literally a tone, the term is most often used today to refer to customizable sounds used on mobile phones.-Background:...
used by a teenage suspect to sneak a cell phone into school, a frequency that it was claimed few people over age 30 can detect.
In "Players
Players (Law & Order: Criminal Intent episode)
"Players" is a sixth season episode of the television series Law & Order: Criminal Intent.-Plot summary:In this episode, Detectives Logan and Wheeler investigate the murder of a judge's son, found shot to death, shortly after a notorious rap artist is sentenced in court...
", it is revealed that Wheeler's father, a lawyer connected to the Mafia
Mafia
The Mafia is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering...
, disappeared 20 years before and is either in hiding or dead—killed by the mob. Her father had allegedly been getting a cut of mob profits, which helped pay Wheeler's private school tuition; but the arrangement ended after a change of mob bosses. She also has an Uncle Pete, who works in a restaurant. The mass grave at the end of this episode is similar to the one where the NYPD found many of the victims that John Gotti
John Gotti
John Joseph Gotti, Jr was an American mobster who became the Boss of the Gambino crime family in New York City. Gotti grew up in poverty. He and his brothers turned to a life of crime at an early age...
ordered murdered as head of the Gambino crime family
Gambino crime family
The Gambino crime family is one of the "Five Families" that dominates organized crime activities in New York City, United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the Mafia . The group is named after Carlo Gambino, boss of the family at the time of the McClellan hearings in 1963...
.
At the end of Season 6, ("Renewal
Renewal (Law & Order: Criminal Intent episode)
"Renewal" is the sixth season finale episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent and the last original episode to air on NBC.-Plot summary:Detectives Logan and Wheeler investigate the murder of a police recruit whose decomposed body is found in the trunk of a car...
"), Wheeler tells Logan that she is going to Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
to teach a course on American police procedure. In actuality, the actress playing her was taking maternity leave. For Season 7, she is replaced by Det. Nola Falacci
Nola Falacci
Det. Nola Falacci is a fictional character on the NBC-USA Network series, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, played by Alicia Witt.-In Major Case Squad:...
(Alicia Witt
Alicia Witt
Alicia Roanne Witt is an American film, stage, television actress and singer.-Early life:Witt was born in Worcester, Massachusetts. Her mother, Diane , is a junior high school reading teacher, and her father, Robert Witt, is a science teacher and photographer. She has a brother, Ian...
). Wheeler returns to the Major Case Squad in "Contract
Contract (Law & Order: Criminal Intent episode)
"Contract" is a seventh season episode of the television series Law & Order: Criminal Intent.-Plot summary:In this episode, Detectives Logan and Wheeler investigate the case of a television news anchor who is blackmailed by a popular tabloid gossip columnist...
", and it is revealed that she has become engaged. In "Last Rites
Last Rites (Law & Order: Criminal Intent episode)
"Last Rites" is a seventh season episode of the television series Law & Order: Criminal Intent. It also marks Det. Mike Logan's final appearance in the series.-Plot:...
", Wheeler's fiancé Colin John Ledger (portrayed by Nicholson's husband, Jonathan Cake) is arrested by the FBI for fraud
Fraud
In criminal law, a fraud is an intentional deception made for personal gain or to damage another individual; the related adjective is fraudulent. The specific legal definition varies by legal jurisdiction. Fraud is a crime, and also a civil law violation...
, money laundering
Money laundering
Money laundering is the process of disguising illegal sources of money so that it looks like it came from legal sources. The methods by which money may be laundered are varied and can range in sophistication. Many regulatory and governmental authorities quote estimates each year for the amount...
, and racketeering.
After Logan leaves the squad in "Last Rites", Wheeler is assigned a new partner, Zack Nichols (Jeff Goldblum
Jeff Goldblum
Jeffrey Lynn "Jeff" Goldblum is an American actor. His career began in the mid-1970s and he has appeared in major box-office successes including The Fly, Jurassic Park and its sequel Jurassic Park: The Lost World, and Independence Day...
). In the Season 8 episode "Rock Star
Law & Order: Criminal Intent (season 8)
The eighth season of Law & Order: Criminal Intent premiered on the USA Network in the United States on April 19, 2009. It consisted of sixteen episodes, and concluded on August 9, 2009. The day following each episode's broadcast on television, they are made available to purchase and download from...
", Ross mentions that Wheeler seems to have had issues with her previous partner and her former fiancé and isn't ready to trust Nichols. In "In Treatment
Law & Order: Criminal Intent (season 8)
The eighth season of Law & Order: Criminal Intent premiered on the USA Network in the United States on April 19, 2009. It consisted of sixteen episodes, and concluded on August 9, 2009. The day following each episode's broadcast on television, they are made available to purchase and download from...
", she says that Colin is facing 12 years in Federal prison and that she is pregnant with his child, coinciding nicely with Nicholson's second pregnancy. Nevertheless, she says her life is perfect. She also says in this episode that she won't let him know about his child.
In "The Glory That Was...
The Glory That Was... (Law & Order: Criminal Intent)
"The Glory That Was..." is an eighth season episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent the 163rd episode overall. This episode marks the half-point of the season...
", Internal Affairs
Internal affairs (law enforcement)
The internal affairs division of a law enforcement agency investigates incidents and plausible suspicions of lawbreaking and professional misconduct attributed to officers on the force...
accuses her of being Colin's accomplice. Later, she says that the Bureau wants to call her as a witness at Colin's trial, which she fears will affect her job. Ross reassures her that the situation isn't her fault and that no one really thinks that she's corrupt.
Wheeler made her last full episode appearance of Season 8 in "Passion
Passion (Law & Order: Criminal Intent)
"Passion" is an eighth-season episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent and the 167th episode overall.-Summary:Egocentric poet Jacob Garrety would do anything to keep his poetry journal, The Village Quarterly, afloat...
", to coincide with Wheeler's/Nicholson's pregnancy. Alexandra Eames
Alexandra Eames
Det. Alexandra "Alex" Eames is a fictional police detective with the NYPD Major Case Squad featured in the NBC-USA Network Law & Order: Criminal Intent, portrayed by Kathryn Erbe...
(Kathryn Erbe
Kathryn Erbe
Kathryn Elsbeth Erbe is an American actress known for her role as Det. Alexandra Eames in Law & Order: Criminal Intent, a spin-off of Law & Order, and death row inmate Shirley Bellinger in the HBO series Oz.-Personal life:...
) took her place in the last two episodes of the season. She can briefly be seen in "Major Case
Major Case (Law & Order: Criminal Intent)
"Major Case" is an eighth-season episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent and the 169th episode overall.-Summary:Forensic scientist Henry Muller packs the apartment of his recently deceased mother on the Lower East Side. Through the window, he watches Grace Purefoy, a young girl from the...
", discussing a case in Ross' office, when her water breaks
Rupture of membranes
Rupture of membranes or amniorrhexis is a term used during pregnancy to describe a rupture of the amniotic sac. Normally, or "spontaneously", it occurs at full term at the onset of, or during, labor...
and Eames takes her to the hospital.
After being accompanied by Eames at the hospital, it is revealed that she has a sister who stays with her while she gives birth. She names the baby "Margo Jane Wheeler".
Wheeler is replaced by Serena Stevens (Saffron Burrows
Saffron Burrows
Saffron Dominique Burrows is an English actress and former fashion model, who starred as Det. Serena Stevens on Law & Order: Criminal Intent and Lorraine Weller on Boston Legal.-Early life:...
) in "Loyalty
Loyalty (Law & Order: Criminal Intent episode)
"Loyalty" is the two-part season premiere episode and is the first and second episodes of the ninth season of Law & Order: Criminal Intent.-Part 1:...
".
In the season 6 episode "Blasters", she names various automatic weapons fired by mobsters eg Skorpion, showing her knowledge of firearms.